The USA's
infrastructure systems have deteriorated to the point where this country’s
future economic competitiveness is in jeopardy and our elected officials, who
are entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s future, have ignored the warnings.
Our elected officials’ failure to maintain and improve upon the system
inherited from the prior generation can be traced to a lack of political will,
the influence of special interest groups, the absence of market-based decision
making, and – most specifically and significantly – the use of earmarks,
otherwise known as pork barrel politics. Reversing or even arresting the
decline of infrastructure systems will require creative solutions and visionary
leadership from the engineering community.
In this context, there are two readily-apparent ways for
engineers to effect change. First, engineers need to position themselves better
by seeking public office, which would provide them with proximity and access to
the legislative process. Second, in order to help Congress to better understand
technology transfers and complex scientific principles before implementing new
policies, the engineering discipline should actively recruit and pitch its
professionals for placement on lawmaker and committee staffs. This second
tactic is likely to require a cultural shift in the engineering profession.
Talented engineers will not readily pursue alternative but important career
paths if they think that their work will be dismissed or devalued by the
profession, including its societies and licensing boards. Likewise, lawmakers
and committees are unlikely to understand the benefits of having engineers on
their staffs and deferring to their judgment on important social issues without
a significant public relations campaign. The stakes are high enough, however,
that extreme measures are necessary.
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